Love and Shinobi
by wolfboy32
Summary: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. When Hinata's father disowns her, will Naruto be able to help her? NarutoxHinata, R&R. NEXT CHAPTER UP!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, you'd know.

Love and Shinobi

She couldn't help it. She loved him. Not that she didn't want to love him, but her father didn't want her to. She never told him, but he knew. He just didn't know how strongly she felt about him. The signs were everywhere. She had written his name on her notebook about a hundred times, just "Uzumaki Naruto" over and over again. She was always staring at him. But perhaps the biggest indicator was how her lavender eyes, trademarks of the Hyuuga clan, seemed too light up when he was mentioned.

She loved him, oh yes, but it didn't seem as though he loved her. The blond, spiky-haired, orange-clad shinobi certainly didn't seem to know how she felt. He was totally oblivious to everything around him (or at least he wasn't 7 years ago), and he treated her more like a friend than anything else. But she wanted to be _more _than that. His blockheadedness just made her love him more.

"Hinata," said her father, Hyuuga Hiashi.

"Father!" said Hinata, her thoughts interrupted. "I was just-"

"Thinking about that Uzumaki boy," said Hiashi. It wasn't a question.

"Father…"

"Hinata, you must stop thinking about this boy. As the heir to the Hyuuga clan, you owe it to our family to-"

"Father, I can't stop thinking about him." She said in her quiet manner.

Hiashi's lavender eyes, so like Hinata's, but so much colder, bore holes into her. "Can't, or don't want to? Hinata, I refuse to let you associate with him. He is the lowest of trash, he is not fit to clean the muck off our sandals, he is-"

"Father, I love him!" she half shouted

Even as she said it, she couldn't believe it. '_D-did I just s-say that?' _she thought to herself. She felt relieved. Finally, she admitted it.

She just admitted it to the wrong person.

"YOU WHAT?!" shouted Hiashi, face turning from pale to angry read rather quickly.

"I-I love him…"

"WENCH! HOW _DARE_ YOU SAY SUCH A THING!" Hiashi stormed.

"It's t-true…" Hinata insisted.

Hiashi just stood their, fuming, then said, "Leave."

Hinata felt rooted to the spot. "Leave? Father, what do you-?"

"Leave. Get out of my house. From this moment on, I have only one daughter."

Tears welled up in the Hyuga's-well _ex-_Hyuga's-eyes. The young kunoichi turned and ran, crying, her long, dark-blue hair flowing out behind her.

'_Disowned…' _she thought in anguish. It was the ultimate dishonor. To be stripped of your clan name and title and be left alone was worse than death and, in most cases, was followed by it. Not from other people, or ninja, for, although you were mostly ignored, you weren't hated. No, they died by their own hand. She wasn't even Hyuuga Hinata anymore, just… Hinata.

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"AHHH, it's good to be back!"

The male shinobi was grinning his goofy grin, showing off the whisker marks on his face, still a blockhead, but he had matured. He had grown, so he no longer had his customary orange pants and jacket, but a new outfit. Hs pants were still orange, with his kunai pouch on the left leg, but his shirt was black on his arms and shoulder. His sandals were now black instead of blue. His hair had gotten a little longer, but retained the spiky style it always had. He reached up to adjust his ninja headband, the tails of which flapped in the wind. He lifted his head to greet the massive village gates that met his blue eyes.

"So, Ero-sennin, how's it feel to be back?"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "Kid, I've been coming and going for years. After coming back the 15th time, it loses its glamour. And, for the thousandth time, don't call me Ero-sennin!"

Despite what he said, the 58 year old author of _Make-Out Paradise _was glad he was back in Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, if only to get away from Naruto. Hr was a good kid, but the 19-year-old shinobi was just _annoying. _It was all "new jutsu", and "train me", and "quit looking at women for two seconds", but as time went on, less of the last.

"Well, I can't wait to get home!" said Naruto. I'll finally be able to see Hinata again. I wonder how she is…"

_'Not again,' _thought Jiraiya thought. When the kid wasn't talking about training, he was talking about this Hinata girl. It was aggravating. Teasing him about it had stopped being fun ages ago, so he couldn't do anything but wait it out. Jiraiya told him to shut up on several occasions, but he just kept talking, nonstop.

"Well, kid, I told you that once we got to the gate, our ways would part. Good luck." And with that, the Toad Sage was gone.

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"More miso-ramen, old man!"

Once inside the gates, Naruto wasted no time in going to Ichiraku's for some miso-ramen. This was his hang out, his lunch place, his fortress of solitude.

Well, it was.

"NARUTO!" shouted a female voice.

Naruto turned, and out of no where a dark red something came at him and latched onto him.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, you want to let me go? I can't breath."

"Oh, sorry, Naruto," said Sakura. His former teammate let go. The pink-haired kunoichi had grown considerably. Naruto had to work hard not to stare, and the Kyuubi wasn't helping much. The nine-tailed fox demon sealed inside him was flooding his body with hormones, and Naruto did not appreciate it.

"It's great to see you again, Naruto!"

It's good to see you, too, Sakura-chan. So," said Naruto, "how is Tsunade-baa-chan?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. He may have been older, but he was still an idiot. Referring to Lord Hokage as "granny Tsunade", honestly.

"If you mean Lord Hokage," said Sakura testily, "she's fine."

"That's good."

For a while, they sat talking, until Naruto asked "Have you seen Hinata-chan anywhere? I wanted to talk to her."

'That's_ weird, _Sakura thought. The old Naruto had had a huge crush on Sakura when they were genin. He expected to talk for hours, and then Naruto would beg her not to leave. Now it looked like he was bursting to get away. Not that she was complaining. She always hated his attitude toward her. She was just surprised.

"No, I haven't, not for days, actually. Why, what is it?"

"It's private."

"Well, try the Huuga household, she's probably their."

Naruto was gone in an orange blur, saying over his sholder, "Thanks, Sakura!"

Sakura sat their, bewildered._'What was _that i _about?' _

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With the speed Naruto was moving towards the Hyuuga compound, you would have thought that there was a fire. Turns out there was… just not at the Hyuuga house.

No, this fire was within the young shinobi, burning within him, egging him on. He had waited 7 years to tell this girl how he felt. He felt like an idiot for not realizing it before he left. He loved this girl, the shy one, the girl who was always in the shadows, the girl with the lavender eyes…

Of course, being an idiot, he didn't realize that she felt the same way, even though she practically stalked him. Whenever he was around him, she watched him. Whenever he fought or trained (inside Konoha, of course), she watched him. Even when he was at Ichiraku's, his favorite ramen restaurant, eating like the wind, she watched him.

No, he was unaware of her watching. He assumed she was just a weird girl. But her mysterious tendencies were just part of the reason he loved her.

He finally made it to the Hyuuga clan household. He knocked on the door and waited. Finally, a servant came to the door. "Hello," said the servant. "May I help you?"

"I'm looking for Hinata," said Naruto. "Is she here?"

The servant's face paled, and, painfully, he practically whispered "…There is no one here by that name." And with that, he slammed the door in Naruto's face.

'_What the _hell _was that about!? _thought Naruto. '_I _know _she lives here! And this guy says there is no Hinata there? What's the deal? He didn't even say she didn't live there _anymore_ but he made it sound like there never _was _a Hinata there. What gives?!' _

Naruto decided to go to the place that the genin used to train. It was a little different than when he left. He visited the place where he and his teammates became shinobi. Kakashi, their old sensei, put them through a lot to get their title, even if it was just the title of genin. Kakashi always did play hard ball.

The nine-tailed fox inside him had given his senses a boost, and thanks to his training, they were even more acute. Because of this he heard the gentle sobbing in the distance. Concerned, he followed the sound to the cliff where he first summoned Gamabunta, the giant toad. There he saw a woman. She was just standing there, crying.

'_Wow,' _thought Naruto, i _'she's beautiful.' _

Naruto was about to go up to her and say something, but he heard her say, "I'm sorry, Father…" And then she jumped.

Naruto did it without thinking. He jumped after her. Straitening his body, so he was more stream-lined, he delved deep within himself and confronted the nine-tailed fox. '_O.k., you stupid fox, give me your power!_

He felt the fox's chakrafill him. It surrounded him, forming a red chakra tail and ears. Grabbing the woman, who had fallen unconscious, with his right arm, he extended the chakra claw enveloping his left arm, grabbed the cliff ledge, and with one yank, pulled them both out of the crevice.

Once back on the ground, Naruto placed her on the grass. Naruto couldn't help but think he had seen her before. Then, he realized who it was.

It was Hinata. But it wasn't the Hinata he remembered. She had grown, from the small, shy girl he knew, to the beautiful, 19-year-old woman before him. Naruto tried to ease the rush of emotions he felt by releasing the fox's chakra. It didn't work

He leaned in close to her, Hinata still unconscious, and felt her light breathing. _'Good, she's still alive.' _His brain told him to pull back, but his back wouldn't straiten. He just couldn't stop staring at her. Her pale lips were parted slightly, and he couldn't look away. Naruto found himself leaning toward her…

Hinata had to pick that time to wake up.

"N-naruto-kun…"

Hinata's voice turned out to be the thing to bring Naruto back to reality. "Hinata! I'm sorry! I was trying to see if you were breathing, I swear!" That wasn't a lie, exactly.

"I-it's o.k., Naruto-kun…" said Hinata.

Hinata sat up, and hugged her knees. They sat there for about 5 minutes until Naruto said "So, Hinata-chan, you wanna tell me why you jumped off that cliff?"

Suddenly, Hinata launched herself at Naruto, thrust herself into his chest, and started crying. Naruto wasn't sure what to do. Nothing like this had ever happened before. He realized Hinata was in pain, and had to be supportive, but he wasn't sure _how _to be supportive. So, in the end, he just held her, and tried to say comforting things.

Finally, after 20 minutes, Hinata stopped crying, and when Naruto asked again, and she told him –through tears- that her father had disowned her.

Naruto was shocked. The strange occurrence at the Hyuuga clan house suddenly made sense. "Why would he do that?"

"I…I fell I love"

"You fell in love? _That's _reason for disownment?!"

"I-it wasn't that I f-fell in love. It was wh-who I fell in love _with._"

"Why would that matter?"

"My f-father says that he is b-beneath us s-socially."

"The whole clan system is stupid. Now you risk disownment for love? That's ridiculous."

Hinata lay in Naruto's arms, enjoying the feeling of his embrace. He had saved her life… Just as she thought no-one cared about her, Naruto had saved her. Maybe he… No, she wouldn't get her hopes up. Still, he _had _saved her, and she owed him the truth.

"N-naruto-kun, I have something t-to tell you something…" she said softly.

"What is it, Hinata-chan?" said Naruto, just as softly.

'_It's now or never' _she thought. "I…I love you"

Naruto was shocked. She loved him! It was unbelievable! 7 years he obsessed about her, and never once did he think she felt the same.

Naruto looked down at her, eyes full of longing, and lifted her chin so she was looking at him. He smiled at her, and kissed her.

Hinata wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck and deepened the kiss, making it more passionate. She felt Naruto put his arms around her, pulling her close. She had dreamed of this moment for so long, she found herself wondering if she _hadn't _died. But no, this felt too real. She was alive, and in her loves arms.

They broke the kiss, and Naruto said, with as much passion as he could muster, said, "I love you, too."

Hinata was happier than she had ever been. Finally, she had what she always wanted. Someone to love her for real, not to use her power, or to keep her power suppressed. Someone who would love her for her, not what she can do.

"Hinata-chan, do you have a place to stay?"

"No," said Hinata, surprised when she didn't stutter.

"Well, you can stay with me. If you want," he added hastily.

Hinata looked at him, kissed him again, and said, "Thank you, Naruto-kun. I'd love to."

They walked from the training ground, hand in hand, happy they had finally found each other.

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Well, their you go! My first fanfic. Depending onthe reviews I get, I may post more chapters. So, R&R


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Well, thanks to the great reviews I got for the last chapter, I decided to extend the series. Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

Chapter Two: Sakura's Secret

"Naruto, you _can't _do it there!"

The blond shinobi rolled his eyes. "Shikamaru, you proposed to Temari in the freaking arena, so don't even talk."

The black-haired lay-about groaned. "Naruto, you are such a drag. That's different and you know it. Temari and I _met _on that field. It had _meaning _for us. Ichiraku's is _your _favorite ramen stand. It's a place you go for lunch on the spur of the moment. It _isn't _a place to_ propose._ Even the _training _ground would be better."

"Shikamaru's right, Naruto," said a particularly large ninja to his right.

This time, it was Naruto's turn to groan. "Not you too, Choji."

"Sorry, Naruto, but Ichiraku's doesn't seem very romantic," said Choji

"Look," said Naruto, "If it hadn't been for Ichiraku's advice and support, (A/N, if you remember from my last chapter, Naruto was at Ichiraku when he met Sakura) I never would have gone looking for Hinata 6 years ago, and if I hadn't gone looking for her, she would be dead right now. So, directly or not, Ichiraku is the reason Hinata and I are together, and Hinata is even alive. Ichiraku's it is.

"Naruto! I would never have expected something so eloquent from you!"

Naruto fell of the couch in his and Hinata's apartment. "Bushy-brow! How did you get in here?"

Rock Lee stood behind the couch; in the same haircut and eyebrows he had 13 years ago, let alone 6. He looked almost exactly like his sensei, Mighty Guy, in appearance, clothing, and even eyebrows. His customary green jump suit was paired with a ninja vest that many male shinobi wore.

"I slipped in through the window. Perhaps you and Hinata should get better ones if you are to be married."

Naruto blanched. "Y-you heard that? Gah, that was supposed to be a surprise!"

Lee looked at Naruto with all seriousness. "Do not worry, Naruto, I will keep your secret of love!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. It was just like Lee to exaggerate things like that.

In reality, there were _some _who knew about it. Iruka-sensei and Ichiraku were an integral part in his decision. Once he made it, he told Kakashi-sensei, his male friends, and Tsunade baa-chan. The last one may not have been a good idea. After all, the sixth Hokage was prone to overindulging in sake, and, being her sensei, might leak this info to Sakura. This wouldn't be a problem, exept for two things: one, Sakura was one of Hinata's best friends. And two, the pink-haired medic could _not _keep a secret, especially when she was drunk.

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_'Something's up,' _thought Hinata.

The dark-haired kunoichi looked at the medic next to her on her right. They were in one of the few bars that were in Konoha. Usually, Sakura was drunk right now. Instead, she drank nothing but water all night. She was on her 7th glass. Ino, the blond kunoichi on her left, however, was drinking shots of the strongest scotch they had. As Sakura was much given to one-night stands, Hinata decided to (while Sakura's back was turned) use her Byakugan to see if she was carrying any "extra luggage". She wasn't. Since she usually drank to get rid of her emotional problems, Hinata could only deduce one thing: she was hiding something. Something _big. _

Once Sakura got up to go to the bathroom, (seven glasses of water will do that to you) Ino said, rather drunkenly, "So, what do you think it is?"

"Hm?" asked Hinata.

"Oh, come on," said Ino, "she's got a secret. I can reason about as well as a goldfish right now, and _I_ can tell that. She's barely said anything all night. What do you think it is?"

"I don't know," said Hinata, "but if she's not drinking, it's big."

Ino's eyes widened. "You don't think she's pregnant, do you?"

"I thought that too, but I checked with the Byakugan, and it's just her chakra. It's something else, and I think it's something about one of us."

"Really?" said Ino, really worried now. "Like what?"

"I don't know," said Hinata, shaking her head, "but I'm gonna ask."

"Hold on," said Ino evilly, "I have a better idea."

Ino called for the barkeep, and whispered something to him. He smiled, and gave her a bottle with a clear liquid. Even from a distance, Hinata could smell the potency. Ino took Sakura's glass and put a small amount of the strange liquid into it. The liquid's color matched the water seamlessly. 

At that moment, Sakura returned from the bathroom. "Hey guys, what's up?"

Before Hinata could say anything, Ino blurted out: "O.k., Sakura, spill it."

Sakura blushed as red as her dress. "What do you mean?"

"Sakura," said Ino, "drop the act. We know your hiding something, and we _will _get it out of you eventually, so you may as well tell us."

"I can't," whined Sakura, "I promised Tsunade-sensei. _I _shouldn't even know, she was drunk when she told me."

"Well," said Ino, "she doesn't need to know."

Sakura sighed and took a sip of her water. She felt an incredible calm wash over her (thanks to the concentrated vodka enhanced with chakra).

"Alright, fine," she said stupidly, "You want to know so bad, her it is: it concerns a certain blond shinobi, and a certain blue-haired kunoichi."

Hinata blushed furiously. A secret about her and Naruto? This was either really good or really, _really_ bad. And, being a nervous worrier, she was leaning toward the latter. Was Naruto thinking about breaking up? Was he gay? Or maybe… no! '**_IS HE CHEATING ON ME?!?!?!?!?!?!' _**she thought hysterically.

Hinata started to cry, already convinced he was cheating on her. Sakura, who had taken another sip, said, "Whoa, what's with the waterworks? Cheer up; Naruto's gettin' ready to pop the question!"

Hinata gasped, Ino squealed, and Sakura (after one more sip) passed out.

"Oh My God, Hinata!" yelled Ino, hugging Hinata fiercely. "He's gonna _propose!_ I never would have thought he would be mature enough for _that!_ I haven't been this excited since Shikamaru and Temari!"

Hinata was in shock. _Here _was a surprise! Here she was, bawling her eyes out, convinced that Naruto was cheating on her, and here was Sakura saying Naruto was going to ask her to marry him!

Reverting to her old, quiet self, Hinata said, "I-Ino? Do y-you think you c-could take Sakura home? I-I need to t-think…"

"Sure! Oh, this is so exciting! I'll see you later!" said Ino. he grabbed Sakura and carried her fireman style. Ino started walking in the direction of Sakura's apartment.

Hinata just sat there, thinking, still kind of in shock. She sat there until the bar tender said, "Hey, lady, you don't gotta go home, but you can't stay here." Hinata got up, left the bar, and stated walking home. She was half-way there when it hit her.

NARUTO WAS PROPOSING!!!!

"YESSSSSSSS!!!!" she yelled as she leapt in the air. She started skipping home-that's right, _skipping-_to the apartment that she shared with her future husband.

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Well, that's it! I hope I did good. Please, R&R. P.S., I know it sucks, I kind of rushed myself. Short, I know, but This is just to set the scene for the next one.


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